Skip to main content

Search

get_answer

  • Updated

The get_answer method retrieves a question's response for use in filling fields or displaying values. This is often called piping a response.

1. Please rate the pizza on a scale from 1 to 5, 1 being the "worst" and 5 being the "best."
type: radio
series: 1..5
hscale: y
headings: worst, best

1A. Your response was [* get_answer('Q1') *]. Why?
type: text

Details

  • The get_answer method retrieves data from the same survey, allowing access to responses from the same respondent or a different respondent ID.
  • At a minimum, it's required to specify the question ID, written as a string, enclosed in single quotation marks (e.g., get_answer('Q1')).
  • By default, get_answer returns the raw response (option ID for closed-ended questions, text for open-ended questions).
  • You can use specific parameters to customize the retrieved content.
  • The most common get_answer parameters have been built as aliases for programming efficiency.
  • When working with tables, use get_answer on individual fields (e.g., Q8R1 for a table row).
  • If get_answer is used in question or option text (outside a Perl environment), the piping requires square brackets and asterisks, e.g., [* *], as shown in the example above.
  • get_answer can be used on cvalue to record a value for a variable.

Tip! For more information on using get_answer to access data from other surveys present on the same server (for example, a recontact survey), see allowreadsfrom.

Parameters

You can customize the data returned by applying the parameters below.

Parameter Description Example code
final Adds a word (e.g., "and") between the last two options in multi-select questions. get_answer('Q1', separator=> ", ", final=> " and ")
limit

Limits the number of responses retrieved for multi-select questions (e.g., limit => 1). Accepts integer values and defaults to none ('0').

 get_answer('Q1', limit => 1)
loop

References a specific iteration for looped questions.

The loop parameter accepts mathematical and variable inputs as well.

get_answer('Q1', loop => 2, text => 1)
oxford

The get_phrase method includes an Oxford comma (serial comma) by default, placing it after the second-to-last option and before the final "and." To customize this behavior, use the oxford parameter:

  • 1 to include the Oxford comma (default).
  • 0 to omit it.
 get_phrase('Q1', oxford => 0)
separator

Joins multiple values with the specified character, defaulting to a comma.

 get_answer('Q1', separator => ", ")
text

Retrieves option text instead of ID for closed-end responses (e.g., text => 1).

 get_answer('Q1', text => 1)

Aliases

These are the most common aliases.

Alias Description Example code Same as
get_answer_text

Retrieves option text for single-select and multi-select responses.

get_answer_text('Q1')

get_answer('Q1', text => 1)
get_first_answer Same as get_answer, but retrieves only the first response. 

get_first_answer('Q1')

get_answer('Q1', limit => 1)
get_first_answer_text

Same as get_answer_text, but retrieves only the first response.

get_first_answer_text('Q1')

get_answer('Q1', limit => 1, text => 1)
get_phrase

For multi-select questions, combines responses with appropriate separators, using an Oxford comma by default.

get_phrase('Q1')

get_answer('Q1', separator=> ", ", final => " and ", text => 1)

Note: When translating a survey, the final "and" in get_phrase will not automatically translate. To address this, create a set text widget for "and" and use get_answer_text with the set text widget, along with any other parameters needed. For example, get_answer_text('Q1', separator=> ", ", final => "__AND__ ", oxford => 1).

Additional examples

Piping in text, basic usage

This example shows how both get_answer and the alias get_answer_text pipe the text of selected options from the referenced question.

Adding "and" with 'get_phrase'

Using get_phrase creates outputs like "Option 1 and Option 2" or "Option 1, Option 2, and Option 3". It pipes in all selected answers from a previous checkbox question, adding separators and a final joining word (e.g., "and") as needed.

Now try the example below by selecting two or three responses. Compare this result with the previous example

Using 'get_answer' with tables

Each table row corresponds to a unique data field. To pull the answer for a specific row, use get_answer to reference that field directly rather than the entire table. For example, get_answer_text can reference Q8R1 to pipe the answer from the "Exercising" row.

Related to

Related articles

Comments

0 comments

Please sign in to leave a comment.